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By FRANCES BISHOPP
Times Newspapers Staff Writer * The Fauquier-Rappahannock Chapter of the American Red Cross is in need of money and, said chapter president Pam Smith, unless donations are received soon, the chapter faces the real possibility of closing its Warrenton office in January .
Running on a budget of $5,000 to $6,0000 a year, the unit, which distributes money to victrmswhose homes have burned down, isclose to depleting its coffers.
“We have had six fires since September,” Mrs. Smith said. “Normally we have about $5,000 to $6,000 of disasters which run from October to February. This year, we have already exceeded our $6,000 budget.”
“There have been three fires just in December,” she said. “ We also aided when the floods came to Madison and Rappahannock counties last summer.”
In Rappahannock County, the chapter provided emergency relief to Virginia Fletcher and her family. Their home outside Washington, was destroyed by the flood-swollen Rush River, and the Red Cross provided emergency shelter in a local motel.
The chapter in Fauquier, said Ms. Smith, steps in when a family needs emergency assistance following a disaster, like a house fire, and helps them get established in a new setting. Sometimes it might mean paying a first-month’s rent or finding a place for the family to live.
If all the family’s possessions have been lost in the fire, individual family members are given money for clothes, medication, glasses and hearing aids if needed, as well as food.
Sometimes, said Ms. Smith, various organizations in the community
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